1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to air conditioning systems for motor vehicles and, more specifically, to an accumulator for an air conditioning system of a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to provide an accumulator for an air conditioning system of a motor vehicle. Examples of such accumulators are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,184,480, 5,201,792 and 5,729,998. Typically, the accumulator includes a housing having a first section and a second section which are joined together to define an interior chamber. The housing also has an inlet opening through which refrigerant may be introduced into the interior chamber and an outlet opening through which refrigerant may exit the interior chamber. The accumulator also includes a separate inlet tube, outlet tube, oil return and desiccant bag disposed in the interior chamber of the housing.
Although the above accumulators have worked well, they suffered from the disadvantage that the housing is made of a metal material, which requires welding. Another disadvantage of these accumulators is that the weld does not allow for serviceability of the accumulators. Yet another disadvantage of these accumulators is that the metal material does not integrate with other parts of the accumulator. A further disadvantage of these accumulators is that they are relatively costly. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide an accumulator for an air conditioning system that overcomes these disadvantages.